NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Rep. William Lamberth, the lawmaker behind the House version of Jillian Ludwig's Law, is hopeful the bill will get the funding needed for it to pass.
The bill is named for Belmont student Jillian Ludwig, who was hit and killed by a stray bullet. Her accused killer had previous criminal charges but was deemed by a judge to be incompetent to stand trial.
The proposed bill would commit someone deemed incompetent to stand trial and remove their firearms. Despite bipartisan support, the bill stalled on the House side of things after it was "placed behind the budget" due to the millions of dollars required to commit so many people to mental institutions. Placing a bill behind the budget means it will be considered after the rest of the budget is approved and lawmakers know how much discretionary money they have left over.
Lamberth told NewsChannel 5 he's hopeful funding for Jillian's Law will be included in Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's amended budget, which is expected to be released next week.
"Surely to goodness, in a 52.6 billion dollar budget, we can find about 3 million dollars to fund access to mental healthcare for those people who need it most," Lamberth said in an interview March 7th.
On the Senate side, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill onto the Senate Finance Committee, where the bill will also likely be placed behind the budget.
Gun Sales Tax Holiday
Several other measures addressing crime and gun access are also making their way through the legislature. A controversial bill by Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City,
would have created a sales tax exception for certain types of purchased firearms. However, the bill was sent to "General Subcommittee" before the bill was considered in the Senate Revenue Subcommittee Tuesday. That's legislative talk for the bill dying this session.
Ending Permitless Carry
Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, has a bill that would repeal Tennessee's Constitutional Carry law that allows gun owners to carry concealed handguns without a permit.
"It’s time to stop the violence, it’s time to stop the robbing, to stop the killing," said Rep. Pearson. "This bill in effect, reinstates the permitting requirement to conceal and carry a handgun in public spaces."
As you might expect, Republicans quickly condemned the idea. "What’s your answer when the Second Amendment says — shall not be infringed?" said Rep. Bud Hulsey, R-Kingsport.
Time ran out on debate in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee before a vote was taken.
Ammunition Out of Reach
Rep. Torrey Harris, D-Memphis, sponsored legislation requiring stores that sell ammunition to store it behind the counter or behind glass. Harris didn't want children to be able to reach or easily steal it. While Democrats on the committee thought the idea had merit, the Republicans did not.
"This one’s a bridge too far for me," said Rep. Lamberth.
The bill failed to advance out of the subcommittee.
Masked Crimes
Another Rep. Harris bill did see success. His proposed bill, which increases the punishment if someone tries to conceal their face while committing a crime, ultimately passed out of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee. The bill includes people who wear masks or other articles of clothing that conceal their face.
It got praise from both sides of the aisle.
"I 100% support this," said Rep. John Gillespie, R-Shelby County.
"It’s a great bill," said Rep. Hulsey, who ran a similar version of the bill two years ago. That bill received condemnation for including wearing hoodies as an enhancement factor in sentencing.
Fire Alarm Bill
Earlier this session, both the Tennessee House and Senate passed legislation requiring school districts to come up with a plan for when an alarm goes off in the school, to determine if the threat is truly a fire or another potentially dangerous situation. Covenant families pushed for the bill after William Kinney, one of the Covenant School shooting fatalities, was shot and killed when he and his class assumed the fire alarm going off was fire related.
The bill was signed into law by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on March 12th.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
